Nick Mancini has been a busy man since graduating with honors from the Auto Collision Repair Technology in March 2015. One of only sixteen students in the country to be accepted into the prestigious BMW Service Technician Education Program (STEP) for Paint and Body, the NEIT “Best of Tech” recipient spent the last eight months training at BMW’s North American headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. He graduated from the STEP program on April 14, 2016, but not before receiving three different job offers with dealerships in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He visited the Access Road Campus the day after he graduated, on April 15, to share his experience with current students in the Auto Collision Repair Technology and offered some simple, yet important advice for auto collision repair students on how to prepare for a successful future, “Keep your driving record clean, come to class, and get good grades.”

It also helps to be ambitious, which Mancini exemplifies. The STEP program only accepts graduates of colleges with automotive paint and body programs, or technicians who already work at a BMW dealership. He credited Auto Collision Repair Assistant Professor Ray Mann with telling him about the program when he was only in his 3rd quarter. Mancini submitted his application a year early, was granted an interview, and made enough of an impression that BMW kept him on the top of their list for when he did officially become eligible. In the meantime, he worked for small auto collision repair shop but always knew he wanted to work at a larger facility, “Working for a good dealership is always a great opportunity because there’s a lot of money to be made when you’re working for someone who’s going to feed you work.” Mancini’s enthusiasm for the STEP program, and for his future career, was evident when asked why he decided to apply for the program, “I wanted to work for BMW and work on incredible cars every day.”

The training that students of the STEP program receive is state-of-the art and in a controlled environment, which Mancini said is not unlike the training students receive at NEIT; “It’s not the real world yet, but it prepares you for the real world.” BMW invests in the technicians they train, paying them an hourly rate throughout the program. Mancini explained that it would cost a dealership close to half a million dollars to train technicians on what they learn during their eight months in the program.

Alongside two instructors, who were graduates of the STEP program themselves, Mancini and his classmates were able to work on a number of high-end BMW’s, with the deconstruction and repair of a $125,000 hybrid vehicle being one of his personal favorites. He loved having the opportunity to work in a corporate facility that allowed him to see, and work on, the newest BMW models before the general public had access to them.

One of the things that stuck with him was BMW’s idea that “you can’t teach a good attitude, but you can teach skills”. He referenced a fellow classmate in the program who he thought embodied the motto, stating that the student came in with minimal hands-on experience, but showed up every day with a smile on his face and eager to learn. Before the program even ended, the student had a job offer lined up. “It just goes to show how far a good attitude can take you,” Mancini said.

While participating in the rigorous, five-days-a-week training program that began promptly at 8 am every morning, Mancini admitted there were times when he felt like packing up and going home. But when you have companies “that are literally fighting over you to hire you it helps put into perspective why you’re there.” And the effort paid off; he accepted a position at Wagner Motors in Worcester, MA as a Factory Trained BMW Technician, which he begins at the end of April. Mancini, though modest about his accomplishments at age 21, made sure to point out that determination is his key to success, “However hungry you are to get a job, that’s where you’re going to end up.”

EAST GREENWICH, RI – Individuals interested in learning more about New England Institute of Technology’s (NEIT) Automotive and Criminal Justice Technology programs are invited to attend its upcoming open houses. Tours of the innovative, hands-on labs and classrooms will be conducted. Faculty, students, graduates, as well as Admissions, Financial Aid and Career Services representatives will be on hand to answer questions.

The Criminal Justice Open House will be held at NEIT’s Warwick, Rhode Island campus at 65 Access Road. The college offers Associate in Science degree and Bachelor of Science degree programs in Criminal Justice Technology. In March, 2015, NEIT launched its flexible Criminal Justice Hybrid Bachelor of Science degree program designed for busy working professionals. This new hybrid program offers fully on-line courses while combining on-line activities with face-to-face classroom and lab experiences.

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet faculty to learn about the various Criminal Justice Technology programs and to tour the college’s unique forensics and criminal justice facilities.

To RSVP to the Criminal Justice Open House, please visit www.neit.edu/cj or call the Admissions office at 800-736-7744, 401-467-7744, or email NEITAdmissions@neit.edu. To learn more about New England Tech’s Criminal Justice programs, visit www.neit.edu.

Under the leadership of President Richard I. Gouse, New England Institute of Technology is a private, non-profit technical college with an enrollment of more than 3,000 students and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. Since 1940, New England Tech has provided employer driven education to its students through more than 50 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and on-line degree programs.

New England Institute of Technology (NEIT) is to Collaborate with Fiat Chrysler of America(FCA US) and the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3).

NEIT is the only college in the northeast to offer Fiat Chrysler’s National Automotive Technician Training Program.

WHAT: FCA US LLC has developed a strategic automotive technician program in collaboration with the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3) to provide a pipeline of highly-trained technicians for FCA US dealers nationwide. NC3 is a network of education providers and corporations that addresses the need for strong industry partnerships with educational institutions to develop, implement and sustain industry-recognized certifications.

The goal of FCA’s Mopar Career Automotive Program (CAP) Local Program is to train approximately 1,000 students annually in more than 100 colleges nationwide to serve its dealers. Through a combination of 35 online modules combined with classroom training, this optional self-paced program is available to Automotive Technology students enrolled in select two-year programs across the country. Students who successfully complete the Mopar CAP Local Program will be certified Mopar Level 1 Technicians.

New England Institute of Technology (NEIT) was selected to participate in this program since the college confers Associate in Science degrees in Automotive Technology. In addition, NEIT’s Automotive Technology program is Master Certified by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF). NATEF is a non-profit organization that examines the structure and resources of training programs and evaluates them against nationally-accepted standards of quality.

WHEN: Wednesday, August 12, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. (Announcement to local dealers)

Tours of NEIT’s Automotive Center will begin at 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: New England Institute of Technology

Center for Automotive Technology

101 Access Road

Warwick, RI 02886

WHO: John Fox, Global Director of Dealer Training at FCA US

Roger Tadajewski, Executive Director of NC3

Representatives from local Fiat Chrysler dealerships

NEIT Administration and Automotive Faculty

WHY: The Mopar Local CAP program will be offered to NEIT’s Automotive Technology students beginning October, 2015. Since the closest MOPAR program is located in North Carolina, students throughout the northeast will now be afforded the opportunity to earn an Associate in Science degree in Automotive Technology and in addition, complete FCA certification. When seeking employment, this certification will provide NEIT grads with the credentials needed for advanced standing in the hiring process. NEIT will play a major role in providing highly skilled automotive technicians certified to service vehicles at local Fiat Chrysler dealerships.

A GREAT PROGRAM: Pictured from left to right are Justin Suttles, Shawn Teague, William McCaffrey and Bill Cilli. They are standing around one of the cars used for practice in the automotive center. All agreed that taking home two first place wins is accredited to the amazing program offered at the Warwick Career and Technical Center.

Two Warwick students, Justin Suttles and Shawn Teague, finished first in the 2015 Ocean State Automotive Technology Competition.

Every year the New England Institute of Technology (NEIT), along with the Rhode Island Automobile Dealers Association, hosts the statewide competition.

Students are chosen for the competition based on their grades and senior status. Shawn, from Pilgrim, and Justin, from Toll Gate, both in their final year of high school, have some of the top grades in their program.

“It was exciting to know that we were up against other kids who were the best in their programs, too,” Shawn said in an interview last week.

Bill Cilli, instructor for the Career Center’s Automotive Program, said both boys put in 20 to 30 hours of extra work to prepare for the competition.

“We would meet after school some days or on Saturdays when no one was around and they could really focus. They worked hard for this,” Cilli said.

Justin said that both he and Shawn had worked so hard they felt very confident at the beginning of the competition. Even if they were just a little nervous, they had “good standing” going in.

Justin believes more students could benefit from the center’s programs.

“Other students should want to be working with their hands, not just watching TV to learn something,” Justin said.

Shawn said, “More people should strive to be a part of this program. The workforce needs more people who are ready to work and have hands-on experience.”

As winners, Shawn and Justin received a Snap On toolkit and a paid trip to New York City to compete at the National Automotive Technology Competition on the weekend of April 6-8.

Cilli said that without NEIT’s help, his students, as well as others, wouldn’t ever have the chance to go to the national competition.

“New England Tech really stepped up for our students,” Cilli said. “They help give our students opportunities to be proud of their skills.”

Shawn and Justin also won $22,000 scholarships to NEIT.

“New England Tech was really encouraging and had really high standards during the competition. They have a great degree program.”

The two students and their instructor, Cilli, said that there would be a lot of practicing between now and the national competition.

BMW of North America visited the Center for Automotive Technology at NEIT’s Access Road campus on Thursday, August 7, 2014, to speak with more than 75 students about the BMW STEP program for technicians. Charles Klasman, from the BMW Headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, along with Charlie Antoniou, Service Manager of BMW of Shrewsbury, MA, presented three sessions regarding job opportunities and career paths that BMW has to offer NEIT graduates. BMW recruits automotive and collision repair graduates to work in its dealerships throughout the country and has been a longtime employer with NEIT. Many NEIT graduates have established careers as BMW Master Technicians.

Peter Huckins a student in the Automotive program at the New England Institute of Technology, placed 6th in the entire country in Automotive Service at the SkillsUSA National Competition in Kansas City, MO, on June 27th.

Peter qualified for the national competition by winning first place in the Automotive Service competition conducted by the Rhode Island chapter of SkillsUSA earlier this year.

Peter Huckins finished 6th in the country for Automotive Service.

SkillsUSA is national organization serving more than 300,000 high school and college students and professional members enrolled in training programs in technical, skilled, and service occupations, including health occupations.

SkillsUSA programs include local, state and national competitions in which students demonstrate occupational and leadership skills. During the annual national-level SkillsUSA Championships, more than 6,000 students compete in 99 occupational and leadership skill areas. SkillsUSA programs also help to establish industry standards for job skill training in the classroom.

If you would like additional information about any of New England Tech’s over 40 Associate, Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs, including Automotive Technology.